Skate park proves a bonus for surf, skate shop
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Bare Wires Surf Skate shop, 22 Atlantic Ave., Long Branch, offers clothing and many surf and skate accessories, and sits adjacent to the newly opened skate park.

LONG BRANCH — He chose an oceanfront location for his surf-and-skate shop because of the waves he saw on the beach, but Michael Brown got an added bonus when he signed the lease.

Bare Wires Surf Skate opened at 22 Atlantic Ave. in the spring, directly adjacent to a 4.5-acre piece of property that would turn out to be the future location of a county-owned skate park.

“When I looked at the beach [at Atlantic Avenue] I saw the waves breaking and I wanted to get in at the ground floor,” Brown said.

“When I was looking at the building as a possible location, I didn’t know about the skate park.”

Brown, 31, of Manasquan, had been managing the Inlet Outlet surf shop in Manasquan, owned by Ken Klos, for eight years.

Klos, Manasquan, and Brown decided to go into business together and open a spin-off of the surf-and-skate shop in Long Branch.

The new store opened just months before the $1.5 million skate park opened Sept. 1. The Monmouth County Park System-owned “Skateplex” is located on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard and includes a skate park with ramps and a skating rink.

Adam Holloway, manager of Bare Wires, said the lack of skate parks is a problem in every town.

“Now kids have a place to skate,” Holloway said. “It is one of the greatest, free-skating parks in New Jersey and there aren’t just local people coming. It’s attracting many people from out of town.”

Holloway said that business has been good at the surf-and-skate shop, but it is too soon to tell what impact the skate park will have.

“It’s the end of summer, so everything is marked half-off, which would normally attract a large crowd,” Holloway said.

“We’ll see the real impact [of the skate park] in the fall,” he said.

The shop is open 12 months a year, seven days a week. Hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Not many surf shops are open year-round,” Brown noted. “Having skating apparel means you don’t need waves to do business.”

The store sells surfboards that range from $350 for a Challenger board to $935 for a classic Dewey Weber board.

Skateboards range from $90 up to $160.

The store also specializes in women’s clothing, “hoodie” sweatshirts, hats, shoes, and skate and surf accessories by names such as Volcum, Hurley, Quicksilver and Ripcurl.

Brown said customers range in age from 8-year-old girls to 40-year-old men.

“The store was doing pretty well without the skate park,” Brown said.

“We have seen a bump [in sales] since it opened.”

Brown, who has been surfing for 21 years, put aside any dream he had of one day running a surf shop and began working at an insurance company after he graduated from Villanova University with a degree in economics.

“I didn’t fit in the corporate world,” Brown said.

That was when Brown turned his passion into a career.

He went to the Manasquan surf shop he frequented as a kid and the timing was perfect. Klos was ready to make some changes in his store and offered Brown the opportunity to manage the store.

The business continued to be successful and the duo decided to expand and opened On The Beach in Manasquan, which sold beach equipment.

“The store didn’t fair so well,” Brown said. “We went out of business. It’s a big risk, now I’m focusing on something I am good at.”

Brown stuck with his passion and opened Bare Wires Surf Skate with Klos in March.

“This is a cool thing,” Brown said. “It’s a dream.”